An angel walks into a bar
by Kitty September
Summary: What it says on the tin: An angel walks into a bar… with a bit of time-travel, some hurt/comfort and a wedding ring thrown into the mix. Jo/Hannah Femslash - written for SPN Rarepair Fest over at SPN Weirdnews on LJ. Background Destiel.


It is a hot weekday afternoon, some time in mid-July when it happens. The windows at the Roadhouse are treated and soundproofed but even with the sunshine filtered and muffled the space is brighter and warmer than it is in winter. The heat creeps in through the wood and the whole bar ends up stifling.

Her mom loves days like this, once the after work and the still-trying-not-to-drink-before-5 hunters show up anyway. The heat is good for business, makes people thirsty. And wow, Jo thinks, wouldn't a nice ice-cold beer be good right about now? She even considers it, gives the El Sol tap a short but longing look then gets a lemonade instead. It's too hot. There's a handful of regulars in the bar but they're all slumped into their drinks and she doesn't like to drink alone. Ash is actually doing work for once. Jo can hear him thumping about in the ceiling - fixing the fans or something. She's not sure that'll help but it's worth a try.

Janie West has queued a bunch of k.d. lang and Melissa Etheridge on the jukebox. Jo resists the urge to ask if there's someone inspiring those choices and left Janie to her drink. Work in a hunter bar for your whole life and you get pretty good at reading the melancholy in a person's eyes. You get good at knowing what to ask when, and when to back off and settle for lemonade while someone else nurses a whiskey at 3:00pm. It's a skill.

Right now it's a skill that leaves Jo sober and bored. Jo find herself half-humming along to that new Melissa Etheridge song, Angels Would Fall. She kind of likes it a lot and she's not even really sure why. She drums her fingers on the bar. She could clean glasses or something. But it's too hot, almost sweltering with the fans off. She thinks she's reaching that apex of boredom where she is actually too bored to do anything about it. The monotony would be soothing if it wasn't so oppressive.

That, of course, is when everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

The walls shake, the light flicker. Then the doors slam open and a woman in a prim business suit crashes through them, one arm wrapped around her stomach and the other pressed into the doorframe. She's obviously about to fall down from exhaustion, or maybe blood loss but Jo can't see that much blood.

Jo vaults over the bar without even thinking about it. The chick has crossed the salt lines and didn't get trapped in the devil's trap under the door mat. People who stumble into the Roadhouse looking like that need help. First aid is another skill she learned pretty much from the cradle. She's quickly at the woman's side catching her weight and helping her sit down in the nearest chair.

"Hey, hey," Jo says, trying to get the woman to focus on her. She speaks as calmly as she can, "You're gonna be okay, okay? What's your name?"

"Hannah," the woman says. "My name is Hannah."

Then Hannah promptly blacks out. Great. Just great.

~*O*~

Hannah wakes up. Which is a rather unusual experience. She wakes up in a small military style cot bed inside a small room. There are shelves on the opposite wall full of boxes and containers. There is a small sink in the corner of the room. There is no window but there is a dirty sky light. There is a blonde girl sitting near the bed in a rickety wooden chair.

This is not what she was expecting. Hannah tries to extend a tendril of her grace to intuit more about the girl but is struck almost instantly with pain in her head. Her grace too depleted for even this simple task. The girl has noticed Hannah trying to sit up and puts down her book.

"Hey," she says. She has a kind voice. "Don't try move yet, okay? You took a pretty good knock to the head."

"That is not the problem," Hannah informs her.

"Oh, is that so?" The girl raises an eyebrow and smiles as she says it. Hannah believes her tone can be described as mildly 'teasing'. Which doesn't quite make sense considering Hannah's information was correct. Then again, nothing really makes sense right now. Maybe she came back too far?

"It is my…" Hannah pauses at the last moment. For the first time since the Second Fall, she is extremely vulnerable. And while she is almost sure that this is one of the humans she came seeking she cannot be sure. Cannot be sure that any human will react well to knowing what she is. Especially not here and now. While she knows the Winchesters trusted these particular humans implicitly she is still unsure of them and shall practice caution. She loves her brother deeply, but she does not have as much faith in the opinions of Dean Winchester as he is prone to do. "I just need some time to recover. Thank you for your assistance."

"No problem, I suppose," the girls says. There is something in her tone and expression which Hannah cannot parse. "So, you gonna tell me what happened to you?"

Hannah considers the question for a moment. She knows enough about human interaction now to know that the question is twofold and includes a prompt for more information. She answers literally anyway.

"Not yet," Hannah smiles at the girl. "But soon, once I recover."

"I suppose that'll have to do then," says the girl, with a small smile but a slight frown between her delicate brows. "You should go back to sleep anyway."

"I…" Hannah wants to deny it but she probably does need to sleep to recover her grace. Breaking through the destiny barriers to reach the time of the first apocalypse has drained her even more than she expected. "Yes, thank you."

The heavy feeling in her limbs probably is what tired feels like. She tries to consult with Caroline but she is soundly tucked away deep in their shared mind. So Hannah lies back and lets them both sleep.

~*O*~

Jo realizes too late that she didn't even tell Hannah her name. That shouldn't even be all that important. She sighs at herself. Now that she knows that Hannah isn't concussed or anything she should probably stop watching over her, but somehow it doesn't feel right.

Hannah sleeps pretty much solidly for 24 hours. It is the next night, just as Jo is starting to get worried and Ellen is starting to hint she needs to get back behind the bar and maybe give Ash another turn on stranger watch, when Hannah wakes again.

"Hey," Jo says, softly but more excited by the sight of burning bright blue eyes than she should be. "You're awake, how you feeling?"

"Hello," Hannah answers cautiously. "I am much better although still not fully recovered, thank you for your concern… and your care it seems?"

Jo feels herself blush a little, which is stupid.

"Yeah," she says looking away for that almost glowing crystal blue, "it's no problem. We get a lot of hunters through here, so it's not that unusual…"

Jo watches Hannah carefully through her lashes, examines her reaction. She's hard to read but Jo is almost certain she isn't surprised and that she knows 'hunters' doesn't mean deer. That's probably a good sign.

"I am grateful nonetheless."

"Think you can eat?" Jo asks.

"I can," Hannah answers, confused about something. "But I do not think I need to."

"Um, you've been asleep for a whole day, babe. You totally need to eat." Jo hears the 'babe' in that sentence and wants to kick herself but decides to play it cool. "Anyway, I just made soup."

By 'just made' she means a few hours ago when Ellen made her take a break and she needed to keep busy. Close enough.

She looks at Hannah's reluctant expression. "I made it especially, you can't say no now," Jo tells her. "I'll go get it, you stay here, okay?"

Hannah still looks a bit confused but she nods her assent.

"Cool… oh I'm Jo by the way," Jo says as she stands up. She dusts her slightly sweaty palm on her jeans then offers Hannah her hand.

"Thank you Jo,' Hannah says. "I am Hannah."

"Yeah, I remember." Jo smiles as they shake on it. Oh god, Jo is blushing again. She turns tail, glad of the soup excuse, and flees before Hannah can notice what an idiot she is. This is ridiculous. Jo is gonna blame Janie and her Melissa Etheridge binge. It's obviously going to Jo's head and convincing her there is lesbian romance around very corner. Hannah's probably as straight as a really straight thing - just look at that (really well fitted) suit. Arg!

~*O*~

The way Hannah smiles at Jo over her soup has Jo questioning her earlier suit-based assumptions pretty quickly. It's a look that is way too awestruck for a bowl of, lets be honest, pretty mediocre veggie soup.

After the soup Jo lends Hannah a tee-shirt and jeans so she can wash the damn suit. After a moment of hesitation Hannah agrees. Jo turns around pretty damn quickly when Hannah starts confidently stripping right there in the safe room. She's flushing furiously but also can't help smiling to herself. That kind of confidence has gotta be a good sign right? Jo bites her lip. Maybe not - maybe that's the sort of confidence comes from assuming the situation to be so unsexy you don't even think about it?

Jo sighs at herself yet again. This is so not what she should be worrying about. She hardly knows this woman - why the hell is she crushing so hard? The eyes, she replies to her own internal question. The eyes and the hair and… something. Something powerful and magnetic and… arg!

Turns out Hannah looks even more adorable in a pair of Ellen's old jeans and Jo's carebear shirt, with her hair tousled and a shy smile. Ouch.

~*O*~

Jo deems her patient ready to get up and about some time the next morning before the bar opens. Hannah thanks her profusely when Jo returns the laundered suit. Even if Jo is a bit sad to see the last of the carebare shirt look.

"So, I gotta go prep the bar for tonight. You wanna come keep me company?" Jo says, tires not to sound like a teenager asking a girl on a date. "You can cut some lemons to earn your keep?"

"Certainly," Hannah says smiling at Jo. "I find I do like your company, Jo. I am glad you like mine too."

Jo can't help grinning for ear to ear like a loon. Worth it though. So worth it.

~*O*~

Jo is even more lovely than Hannah had been lead to believe. Now that her grace is almost fully recharged she can sense the true clear light of her soul. She tries not to think too much about the hardships which this lively young woman will soon face.

She laughs and dances as she follows various mysterious rituals of work preparation. She is gentle when she shows Hannah how to cut the lemons just right, and she sets her up at the end of the bar with a knife and a board. And Hannah can just watch her. It is strangely relaxing.

Jo puts on rock music and dances as she works. She is amazingly respectful of the fact Hannah had refused to tell her about her mission when they first met.

"We'll wait for mom," is all she says on the topic when Hannah continues to evade her questions.

At one point after Hannah has rebuffed the third personal question ('so, where are you from?', and 'that is difficult to answer') Jo goes still and looks a little sad which Hannah really didn't intend to happen.

"Sorry," Jo says, looking away. "I'm really not trying to push… I'm just… fuck. Maybe I'm reading this all wrong?"

"Well, that is one thing I am all too familiar with," Hannah says, only a little rueful.

Jo looks up from the bottles she is checking with a questioning expression.

"Misreading situations," Hannah clarifies. "Well, misreading people I suppose. My ki- where I come from, well we're not very social, I suppose. I don't have a lot of practice talking to people about things that aren't, ah, work related."

Jo's smile returns full force. "Maybe I can help you with that one then."

And yes. Maybe she can.

Later Jo forces Hannah to stop with the citrus (she had moved on to limes after lemons). Pulls her out of the chair saying, "I love this song." She tries to make Hannah dance and laughs and her lack of coordination.

Hannah is sure she can feel Caroline laughing at her. Or maybe with her? Caroline had been very kind about the request to borrow her for this short mission. She should really be more mindful of her.

It is a lovely moment nonetheless. Hannah is almost certain she enjoys it far more than she ought to. She enjoys the feeling of having the woman near her, and the sensation of her hands on Hannah's borrowed body. She likes dancing too. Likes the way movement and rhythm blend together. She catches herself laughing several times. And the way Jo smiles each time makes it seem like a really good thing even more so than the light feeling in her chest that causes it.

Hannah finds herself wishing she had longer. But she can't do that. She promised Caroline this would take less than a week of physical time and no more than an hour from their home timeline. She knows no matter what that she will cherish these few hours though, and perhaps that will be enough.

~*O*~

Of course the happy interlude wouldn't last. Jo sighs with as much exaggeration as she thinks she'll get away with. Once Ellen gets back from the store she sends Ash to unload the truck. Then she puts her hands on her hips and gives Jo a look. Down to business then. Great.

Jo takes a small step away from Hannah who either doesn't notice or doesn't react. She had been trying to teach Hannah the bump and grind and it was both hilarious and painfully sexy at the time. But she's not sure she wants to think about it too much with her mom in the room.

Hannah shakes Ellen's hand gravely but Jo can tell Ellen isn't convinced yet. She had seen Hannah while she slept a few times but this is the first time they've spoken while Hannah is awake.

Jo, Ellen and Hannah all take seats at the far end of the bar near the half-door access. Jo knows Ash won't be far, he's probably hovering by the back door with a loaded shotgun if she knows her mother. Ellen takes her seat defensively on the serving side of the bar but Jo sits pointedly next to Hannah. Ellen notices but doesn't comment.

"So, you mind tellin' me why you barged into my bar and blacked out, now?" Ellen says, getting straight to the point as usual. "Or was this all some elaborate plan to make eyes at my daughter?"

Hannah blinks a few times at the last part but she obviously has a script prepared for this and that's what she reverts to.

"I have come here on behalf of Dean Winchester. I understand that he left some possessions here with you. I am required to collect a wedding ring. I am lead to believe it belonged to his father."

Ellen's eyes narrow, "Oh yeah, and how do we know he sent you? There's powerful magic in things like that, and I think you and I both know it. I don't even know who or what you are."

Jo makes a face at her mother, they did the tests, they know she isn't a demon or anything how ru-

"I am Hannah, and I am an Angel of Heaven." Hannah says promptly.

Ellen and Jo both blink at her.

"Um," Hannah looks about as though she's not sure the bar is really empty then she shrugs. Closes her eyes and-

There's a bright golden light all around them - coming form nowhere and everywhere all at once. And in the only shadows is Hannah. Hannah with… Wings. Two perfect sets. Huge and full and feathery and- gorgeous. They're gorgeous, she's flipping gorgeous.

Ellen has her sawn-off out from under the bar and up and pointed at the angel (!) in seconds.

"Mom," Jo says. Because, wow, really! She's gonna try shoot an actual angel? At least now Jo knows she was right: there was something very special about Hannah all along. So special it almost makes her queasy. She was flirting with an angel! Oh god - is she gonna go to hell for teaching and angel to bump 'n grind?

Hannah takes the whole gun situation pretty well though. She nods simply, like she expected it and withdraws a note from her pocket and offers it to Ellen.

Ellen hesitates and glares before passing the gun to Jo (who rolls her eyes but takes it). Ellen takes the note cautiously, and reads it slowly. She looks pretty blown away. Then gives the note to Jo with a helpless shrug, which means she must be really thrown if she's actually asking for Jo's opinion on something like this. Jo tries not to frown too much and looks at the note.

It's on some kind of embossed stationery, maybe a hotel or something? But it looks kind of mystical too. Who knows, it's the words that really make her eyes go wide though:

Hi Ellen, 

If you're reading this then that means Hannah found you. Hope she doesn't blow all the lights out or anything. If she did do the whole Pink Floyd laser show thing, well sorry. Angels are kind of like that - you get used to it.

Anyway, I'm writing from 2020. And yeah I know that sounds crazy, but you can compare this to the writing in my old juvvie letters (they're in the box too) or something. Cas says I 'use a deeper stroke now' (honestly - he said that and he didn't even laugh) but my writing still looks the same to me. I don't know how else to prove it but this really is me. And I really need you to do this for me.

By this point I'm so sick of time-travel shit, you got no idea, but I think it'll be worth it just this once. Don't worry this isn't going to cause like a paradox or anything. Think of it like that Star-Trek movie with the whales (I know Ash knows that one).

You're not going to remember this (probably) but Hannah should let you seal this letter in the box with Dad's stuff, in place of the ring. So I can't tell you too much. You get used to that too.

Look, bottom line is, you haven't met Cas yet but you will and you'll like him. You really will. And I trust him, and he trusts Hannah. So here she is. She's an angel, they both are actually, her and Cas, and isn't that crazy? There is so much I can't say.

Look, trust Hannah, she's one of the good ones (if she takes the stick out of her butt long enough) . The fact she is even willing to try do this for us is a huge deal. So, please give her the ring. For me. And for Cas, because if you knew him yet then I know you would.

I probably shouldn't write this but I have to. Hopefully Cas doesn't cross it out- Thank you, I'm really fucking sorry, and we miss you. 

Dean W.

There is also a note next to the second paragraph in a softer hand and written in green instead of black ink: 'Sorry, he thinks he's funny. I would try fix it but then you might not believe it was him so-! Hope you know we love you guys. -Sam.'

Jo tries not to cry. If the letter is real, and she's pretty sure it is by now, then her mom is going to die. You don't write 'we miss you' to people who are alive. You just don't. Dean certainly wouldn't. While she kind of always knew her mom would die, at some point, knowing it happens in the next ten to fifteen years, well it's a blow.

She feels Hannah's soft hand on her arm and tries to give the angel (really?) a smile, even if it is a bit watery.

Jo tries to think about something else. Tries to read between the other lines of the letter.

"So…" Jo asks, not nearly as nonchalant as she would like. "Angels and humans can… um… huh?"

"It is rare," Hannah responds. "But it is not unknown."

"Even like, get married and sh- stuff?"

"Well it is very complicated, and this is a special case but yes, I suppose so."

"Cool."

"Jo," Ellen interrupts but she looks amused rather than annoyed so that's good. Jo still blushes hot and pink though. Damn it. "What do you think, hun?"

"I say we give Hannah the ring. I know it sounds like something out of a Bryan Adams song, but I think she's legit. And if future Dean wants his Aerosmith ending, why don't we give it to him?"

Ellen nods. "Alright then. Lets go get that box outta the attic."

~*O*~

"So you're really an angel, huh?" Jo asks. They're standing outside. Hannah is about to leave - her time is up and her mission is accomplished. Jo keeps glancing at her like she's waiting for something. "I suppose that's a pretty big deal, huh? An honor or something?"

"The honor was mine, Joanna Beth. In the future many angels, those few informed humans, and even some demons all consider you a hero."

"Yeah?" Jo asks, shy again and maybe a little bemused. "Um, will I see you again? Like do we meet… in the future? Did you already know me?"

"No. We haven't met before but… I will visit you in- the future, if you would like that?" Hannah offers. Oddly nervous.

"Yeah, Hannah, yeah I would really like that." Jo smiles like starshine.

Jo's skin is warm and her eyes bright when Hannah reaches up to touch her face and take away their short time together. She feels something like sadness before she flies.

~*O*~

Hannah isn't sure why she reverts to Caroline's form when she is in Heaven. In this shapeless formless place there is no need. She could be a mighty lion or a 5 dimensional set of many eyed rings like some of her brothers. But even though it isn't hers she finds comfort in the familiar lines of a human shape. And for this particular errand it seems like the best idea anyway. Thus, it is a very Caroline shaped Hannah that walks into the busy and brightly lit Roadhouse of Jo's personal corner of Heaven.

Jo looks at her over the bar, eyes bright and quizzical then she laughs. That same bright musical sound.

'This is going to sound like a really bad pick-up line," says the spirit of Jo Harvell. "But, do I know you? I really feel like I know you?"

"Yes," Hannah says. She reaches over the bar and Jo doesn't flinch, almost leans into the touch even before Hannah reaches out and- twists. The lock on the memories crumbles under its maker's grace.

"Oh," Jo says, eyes comically wide. "Took you long enough!"

Then Jo leans across the bar, grabs Hannah's imaginary shirt and pulls her in close.

"Are angels allowed to kiss?" Jo asks her, smoky low and whisper hot.

"I should think so," Hannah says back. It would be a breathless whisper if people breathed here.

The kiss is breathless anyway. Breathless and perfect, a little hot, a little wet, just this side of frantic. It tastes a little like Heaven should.

Hannah thinks she wants more maybe always will. And for once there is nothing stopping her. Hannah smiles, real and her own for once, and she flies again - this time with Jo's soul held close.

Jo's spirit laughs, it sounds like freedom.


End file.
